Updated 04-May-2020.
Mondo shtuff from around the internet, all about SPIKE SPIEGEL!
My botty best at summarizing from Wikipedia: Spike Spiegel is a fictional character introduced as the protagonist of the 1998 anime series Cowboy Bebop . he is the former member of the criminal Red Dragon Syndicate, who left by faking his death Kawamoto deliberately designed him to appear “uncool” to create the opposite effect for viewers . his portrayal in the later movie adaptation displayed the character’s softer side and inner thoughts . Spike is voiced in Japanese in the english dub, he is voiced by Steven Blum . he has appeared on multiple reader and critic lists of the best anime characters . many reviewers of the movie positively noted his expanded portrayal in Cowboy both actors have been praised for their performances . Blum commented that it boosted his voice acting career . Spike is a heavy smoker and is frequently seen smoking . Spike is a skilled martial artist who practices Jeet Kune Do . he also owns a converted asteroid racer called the Swordfish II . in his younger days, he was part of Spike always holds true to his own values and fulfills his obligations . he also generally goes his own way rather than following orders . Watanabe says Spike has a habit of being very indirect with his emotions Spike is nursed back to health by Vicious’ girlfriend Julia, and the two fall in love . Vicious attempts to force Julia to kill Spike or risk her own death . Spike eventually met and teamed up with in “Ballad of Fallen Angels”, Spike and Vicious battle in a derelict church . in “Jupiter Jazz,” Spike stumbles into a drug deal orchestrated by Gr the crew of the bebop take on a massive bounty for Vincent Volaju . the crew release a cloud of deadly protein-based nanomachines in Mars’ capital city . Spike appears alongside the other main characters in the manga adaptation of Cowboy Bebop . in the alternate manga, Spike allies with Elektra Ovirowa, a former comrade of Vincent’s Spike forms the main focus of the series, with the central theme being his past . Spike was portrayed as a “typical old-style Japanese man” watanabe wanted his characters to have flaws Toshihiro Kawamoto designed Spike to look “uncool” when he stands still, he has a hunched appearance . this meant that when the character was moving vigorously he came across as mecha designer Kimitoshi Yamane created the spaceship Spike’s swordfish II . the final battle with Vicious was planned well in advance . some staff were unhappy about this approach as a continuation the staff had him audition as a formality, but Watanabe felt that “no matter how you looked at it, there was only Yamadera” unsh Ishizuka, Jet’s voice Yamadera calls Spike an “example of a character [he] didn’t fully appreciate until the series was over” he says he would like to reprise his role as the character if given the chance he won first place in the Best Male Character category at animage’s annual anime grand prix awards . in 1998 and 1999, he was again placed at number one on newtype’s anime list of “Fa “spike’s character in particular runs the gamut from goofy to blasé to teeth-gnashing tough” “the underlying theme of Spike Spiegel and his motivations for what he does is absolutely Anime Review: Spike’s portrayal was one of the things that worked in the film . DVD Talk: Neil Lumbard positively noted the further exploration of his personality . the Japanese and english portrayals of Spike AnimeNation’s John Oppliger felt Spike’s character was mishandled in the english dub . Blum himself has called Spike a “gigantic benchmark” in his career and life in 2014, Ramsey Isler ranked Spike as second greatest anime character . in 2005, he was nominated in the category “Best Lead Male Character” at the 2005 Anime Awards from About.com, Spike